Updated Standards for Data Security: IBIA's New Guidelines
The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has announced a set of new industry standards aimed at enhancing data protection and collection practices within the sports betting sector. The focus of these new norms is on personnel verification, data collection processes, and data integrity and reporting.
### Personnel Verification
To ensure that only authorized and verified individuals participate in betting activities or access related data, the IBIA supports the use of advanced identity verification technologies. This includes age verification and geo-location tools to comply with legal requirements and prevent underage or unauthorized betting, especially relevant in esports and regulated betting markets.
### Data Collection Processes
The IBIA prioritizes data-driven monitoring and real-time tracking of betting patterns to detect anomalies that might indicate fraud, match-fixing, or other betting irregularities. Betting data from sportsbooks feeds into IBIA's sophisticated alert network, which uses AI and machine learning to analyze wagers across multiple markets and identify suspicious activities quickly.
### Data Integrity and Reporting
The new standards enforce stringent measures to maintain data integrity, ensuring that all collected data is accurate, complete, and secure. The alert network and associated systems enable sportsbooks and regulators to receive timely alerts on potential threats, thereby facilitating prompt and effective investigations. There is also a push for transparent reporting standards so that suspicious betting behaviours and market manipulations can be documented and addressed in compliance with global integrity standards.
### Overall Focus
IBIA's approach centres on combining technology-driven oversight, global best practices on match-fixing prevention, and regulatory compliance to uphold betting integrity. The norms seek to harmonize standards across jurisdictions, including provisions for esports betting, by advocating for regulatory harmonization and the adoption of emerging verification technologies.
In addition, the IBIA actively partners with operators and technology providers to combat fraud and promote trustworthy, clean betting environments through continuous data sharing and collaborative monitoring.
These new standards are a significant step towards curbing corruption and sports betting manipulation, as well as ensuring a high degree of accuracy and transparency in the sports betting industry, which has traditionally lacked regulation in both areas.
Notably, Stats Perform, a sports data provider, has already announced its implementation of the IBIA standards, making it the first company to do so. The new standards will undergo a certification process by the internationally recognized testing body eCOGRA. All data must be securely stored for at least three years for potential inspections by regulatory authorities.
All persons involved must undergo live training, which must be repeated if a person has been inactive for 90 days or longer. Any integrity issues must be promptly reported to all relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies, as well as industry representatives. These measures will particularly affect employees of sports organizations and betting companies.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the need for robust data chains, and the IBIA believes that comprehensive measures should be taken to protect sports, products, and consumers from illegal activities. A comprehensive risk assessment must be conducted on all datasets with continuous monitoring and review of potential risks.
In conclusion, the IBIA’s new data protection and data collection norms for sports betting emphasize robust personnel ID verification, automated and AI-powered data collection and anomaly detection, and strict data integrity and reporting protocols designed to enhance the integrity and safety of the global sports betting ecosystem.
- The IBIA is working with online casinos in Germany, as well as other global markets, to integrate advanced technology for personnel verification in their sports betting operations, ensuring that only authorized individuals participate in betting activities.
- The focus on data-driven monitoring and real-time tracking extends to the finance and fintech sectors, with IBIA partnering with operators and technology providers to securely store and share betting data for at least three years, contributing to transparency and regulatory compliance.
- The new norms also emphasize the importance of data-and-cloud-computing technology, leveraging AI and machine learning to analyze wagers across sports and sports-betting markets, thereby improving detection of suspicious activities and reducing the risk of sports betting manipulation.
- As the sports betting industry continues to grow, the IBIA's new standards aim to harmonize practices across jurisdictions, including the adoption of emerging technologies for personnel verification, data protection, and sports-betting integrity, thus promoting a safe and trustworthy environment for all participants.
